Went through the process of house hunting/buying

[CountValentine]

If its not done before the contract you may be wasting a helluva lot more money than just the ~$500 HI fee...

How so? It would be contingent on a HI.

[coralsnake]

How so? It would be contingent on a HI.

Contracts are not free unless you do them yourself. Theres generally a deposit on contract. And good luck getting your deposit back without a costly legal battle when the seller doesnt agree to the HI findings when you want to back out or renegotiate based on the HI.

[CountValentine]

Contracts are not free unless you do them yourself. Theres generally a deposit on contract. And good luck getting your deposit back without a costly legal battle when the seller doesnt agree to the HI findings when you want to back out or renegotiate based on the HI.

If you have a lawyer for a closing he is not going to charge extra, been there done that.
Piece of cake to get your escrow deposit back.
I guess NY/NJ is different than IL/IN.

[Lurker]

IME in FL, SOP is you sign a contract with a HI contingency, initial deposit is due in escrow within 3 days of contract signing. If the buyer isn't satisfied with the state of the house, seller can make repairs or give a price reduction /credit, or the buyer has the right to cancel. I don't believe the seller even has to counter-sign a release in order for the escrow agent to release the funds during the inspection period, as long as notice is given before the inspection period expires. The only thing a buyer would be out is the HI fee.

[CountValentine]

IME in FL, SOP is you sign a contract with a HI contingency, initial deposit is due in escrow within 3 days of contract signing. If the buyer isn't satisfied with the state of the house, seller can make repairs or give a price reduction /credit, or the buyer has the right to cancel. I don't believe the seller even has to counter-sign a release in order for the escrow agent to release the funds during the inspection period, as long as notice is given before the inspection period expires. The only thing a buyer would be out is the HI fee.

I guess NY/NJ doesn't use common sense or some are misinformed.

[moko]

If it has to be done before the contract I am not wasting my money.
These things are all negotiable. If the seller is not willing to make a contingency for it that should tell you something.

obviously it depends on how hot the market it is and how badly you want the house. You can scream from today till tomorrow that it's a non starter, but if that's the local way of doing things you can either move somewhere else or not but a home.
Fir me it's a non starter to pay $20,000 in property taxes. So I don't live in such an area
If I HAD to live in such a place, I'm sure it wouldn't be a non starter for me

[coralsnake]

I guess NY/NJ doesn't use common sense or some are misinformed.

The former.

In NY there’s generally no 3rd party escrow. The deposit is held by the sellers attorney in escrow.

[whYME]

NY/NJ doesn't use common sense

That's a given.